I woke up at 2:50 a.

I woke up at 2:50 a.m. to a very sad morning here in Galilee, Israel.

Our nation mourns the approximately 1,200 people killed on October 7 and the nearly 1,000 soldiers who have fallen during these three years of war.

What began as a peaceful Saturday morning on Simchat Torah, a joyous celebration of the Torah at the conclusion of the fall feasts, soon turned into an inferno of unimaginable brutality, sadism, and gleeful cruelty.

Entire families were executed. Young women were subjected to horrific sexual violence and murdered. Bodies were mutilated and decapitated. The head of one murdered soldier was reportedly found in an ice cream freezer in Gaza. An ambulance carrying wounded people was set ablaze, leaving some victims with almost nothing by which they could be identified.

Words cannot begin to describe the horrors of that day.

Yet our nation rose from the ashes with strength, resilience, and courage!

We have seen the hand of God on so many occasions. Most recently, the reported attempt to hijack a commercial aircraft carrying 174 Israelis and crash it in a 9/11-style attack ended with their lives spared. To me, their survival was an extraordinary miracle, another powerful reminder of God’s mercy.

The people of Israel have moved to the right politically, and many have moved toward faith in God. An amazing spiritual awakening is taking place. Though it may not last, seeing people turn toward God fills me with far greater hope than watching them drift toward hedonism, liberalism, and globalism.

We mourn. We remember. And we thank God that Israel lives.

Awaiting His Soon Return – Amir.